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Vavi: Alliance may fall apart if Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma becomes president

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Thursday, 19 October 2017 13:10

HuffPost writes that with tensions at an all-time high between the ANC and its alliance partners, the SA Communist Party (SACP) has labelled President Jacob Zuma's axing of its general secretary, Blade Nzimande, as a minister of state as a declaration of war.

Trade union federation Cosatu has urged the governing party to reflect on its decision. This while both alliance members have amplified their calls for the president to step down. But neither was provoked enough to step away from the ANC. However, former Cosatu boss Zwelinzima Vavi says the move to detach from the ANC may come after the party's national conference in December -- if Zuma's preferred candidate, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, is voted as the party's new president. While the communists saw Nzimande’s axing as a direct attack on the alliance, Cosatu trod lightly on the matter, neither condemning the reshuffle nor supporting it. In a statement, the federation said it found the frequency of Cabinet reshuffles "unsettling". Vavi, now general secretary of the SA Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu), said the alliance only worked to benefit the ANC during the election periods, but it was unlikely alliance members would make any considerable moves ahead of the ANC's December conference. "They won't walk away now but they are more likely to do so if [Dlamini-Zuma] wins. I think they are waiting for a (Cyril) Ramaphosa victory," he said.